Flames Force Family to Flee

SHICKSHINNY — A state police investigator spent Monday morning at a burned out home in Shickshinny. A family of four lost their home in the early morning fire in Luzerne County.

The fire chief in Shickshinny said he called in a second alarm even before he got to the fire around 3 a.m. Monday on West Butler Street because he could see the flames in the sky from his home on the other side of town.

Kelly Hardiman rushed from her nearby home to check on her neighbors.

“Everything was an orange glow and we just got out and made sure the neighbors were out and we came out they were already out and everyone was OK.”

The fire chief said Randi and Joe Feno, their two children, and their two dogs escaped from the burning home without getting hurt.

Albert Gensel lives next door, and he too jumped out of bed to make sure his neighbors were OK.

“It was engulfed. The whole back side of the house was on fire,” said Gensel.

The Feno’s have lived there since 2000. They made it out with just the clothes on their backs, and they’re not sure what, if anything, can be saved.

Fire Chief Kevin Morris told Newswatch 16 a family member spotted the flames on the outside of the home before smoke alarms went off.

“Their son woke up first. He’s the one who discovered it and woke up the rest of the family and got them out,” said Morris.

It took a couple hours to get the fire under control.

Route 11 near Butler Street, was shut down for three hours to allow firefighters to combat the fire.

The chief said the fire apparently started at the back of the first floor, and worked its way through the roof.

The chief in Shickshinny said the one thing he’s satisfied most about is the way his firefighters kept the flames from spreading to a house just a few feet away. All it has, is just some melted siding.

And above all else, a family of four is alive, and no firefighters were hurt.